Give it a (Pinte)rest

I get that lots of people like Pinterest. I'm just not one of them. There, I said it.

I like that it's visual and I like that it allows people to catalogue stuff that inspires them. When I first tried using it, it stressed me out. I have a closet full of unfinished projects, so I didn't really feel like I needed a virtual wasteland of unfinished projects staring me in the face when I logged in. So I don't really pin all that often. But I get a big kick out of the other stuff people pin. Some of the pins fall into the "not my taste" category.

Like raffia. Taken by itself, I don't mind it, but people are building nations out of the stuff.

Let's give thanks. For raffia.

It makes a fashion statement, too.

It can bring a touch of the beach to your bedroom (yep, that's a bedskirt):

Or accentuate a festive holiday wreath.

Wreaths are big on Pinterest and people make 'em out of everything. Like this one made out of coffee filters. I'm glad they made that implicit - at first glance, I thought it was toilet paper.

This one serves multiple purposes. It's festive, it brings joy, and you can use it to scrub your pots when Christmas dinner is over. God bless us, everyone.

"Not my taste" is one thing. "What the hell were you thinking" is another. What people have done to Mason jars is nothing short of criminal.

They're decorative:

I'm actually not exactly sure what this is.

They're functional:

A trip to Radio Shack could have saved someone a lot of trouble, but it's not as sexy to pin, I guess.

They make our lives easier: 

I don't quite get what we've gained here.

And you can use them to serve salad. You know, if you don't have any plates.

Speaking of alternative uses for stuff around your house, this one is a winner:

What scares me is I could make a matching set of these (and a coffee table) without trying very hard.

You can do lots of stuff with an old pair of jeans.

For when you want to bring your 550s to the next level. Or if you wanted to give being a hooker a try.

What are some of your favorite Pinterest finds? It would be fun to share them in a follow-up post.

Because when it's all said and done, people really will publish anything on the Internet.